Two hours? That's Haile unlikely, says former record holder Gebrselassie

Less than four years ago, the legendary Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie became the first man to run the marathon inside two hours four minutes.

This year, the 39-year-old has acknowledged he is not quick enough to be selected for the Olympic Games.

Two men have surpassed his three-and-a-half-year record and 13 have broken the 2hr 5min barrier that stood until 2003. Could the two-hour barrier soon be the marathon equivalent of Roger Bannister’s four-minute mile?

Olympic no show: Haile Gebrselassie won't compete at the Olympics

Won't be done: Gebrselassie says it is unlikely the two hour marathon will be broken

London race director David Bedford says it will happen. ‘I can see no physiological reasons why it can’t happen,’ he said. ‘Once they get close and sniff it, it’ll come.’

But Glenn Latimer, former coach and now chief executive of World Marathon Majors, who organise the most prestigious city races, disagrees.

‘Not in my lifetime, perhaps never,’ he said. ‘The four-minute mile was a phoney barrier, nowhere close to a man’s limits. The marathon is.’

There is an added motivation for running fast in London on Sunday. All six Kenyans in the race — defending champion Emmanuel Mutai, world-record holder Patrick Makau and quartet Wilson Kipsang, Abel Kirui, Vincent Kipruto and Martin Lel — are competing for the right to be one of three who return for the Olympic marathon.

And Tsegaye Kebede, the winner of London in 2010, knows that, in order to take one of the three Ethiopian places, he has to run quicker than four of his compatriots did in Dubai in January.

‘I need to run two hours four minutes or quicker to get to the Olympics,’ he said. No wonder Gebrselassie gave up on making it.